Was just reading the "What should the Blazers do with Shabazz? " piece, when these thoughts occurred to me.

In his press conference along side Terry Stotts, Neil Olshey said this:

" I think the playoffs brought a couple issues to bear in terms of teams that can go small. I think (there are) some things we need to address. But playoff series' are always going to illustrate deficiencies. That's what coaches do. **They get to play you four different times. They find your weaknesses. And we'll address those in the off-season."-Neil Olshey

I thought that quote among all the things Neil Olshey said, was the closest Olshey came to an open admission of a problem that needs to be fixed. It was the least spin filled moment. So I find it to be an interesting quote. When I thought of that quote, I wondered why nobody asked him "How" he intended to address those issues this summer.

当考虑Shabazz成为的东西clear, if it wasn't already, was that this summer the one thing that seems nearly guaranteed to happen, is going to be the loss of a player. Most likely Shabazz, Davis or maybe even Nurkic.

When Olshey say's that the Blazers will address the issue of the Blazers struggles against teams that can go small. the problem becomes two fold. In today's NBA, nearly every team can play small. And secondly, with no cap space, exactly how does he intend to address the issue? Seems likely the Blazers will add a draft pick, but hard to believe any added rookie is going to be the full answer to this problem.

So we are left again with intrinsic growth, internal development.

When Paul Allen, according to Neil Olshey says that Allen recognizes that the Blazers need to get better, when is internal development and intrinsic growth not enough?

Combine that with the fact that I think immediately, the Blazers lose at least one player this summer that has contributed to the teams success, and I'm left wondering.

I think this upcoming summer, and obviously next season, all becomes about team direction. Did the Pelicans reveal the Blazers are slipping? I'm not talking about the aggregate play against the entire league, I'm talking about against playoff caliber opponents.

And I don't see the answers on the horizon. Zach Collins is a nice addition, and I won't cap his potential. But I think it far too much to put on a second year player, drafted so young, the greatest burden of degree of improvement based on his development or lack of development.

And I would say, the Blazers should NOT ignore what happened in the playoffs. If 3rd seed, Division Winners, and Playoff Home court advantage, were balloons, the Pelicans walked up to The Blazers with a big pin and popped all 3 of them, with about as much resistance offered as a small child left with 3 strings dragging on the ground.

The issues facing this team, the need to get better, the challenges in finding ways to get better, are very real. The answers offered specifically about how the Blazer intend to address those issues, defensively nebulous, from Blazer management.

** Note: Sometimes they get to play you 5, 6, 7, times assuming you're not being swept out of the 1st round.